Mirror assembly with spring-loaded electrical connectors

ABSTRACT

An exterior rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle includes a mirror reflective element, a back plate, and an attaching element having first and second spring-loaded electrical connectors disposed thereat. The attaching element includes a cover element with the spring-loaded electrical connectors disposed thereat. The attaching element includes electrical leads that electrically connect to the spring-loaded electrical connectors and that electrically connect to an electrical connector. With the cover element attached at the attachment portion of the back plate, and with the back plate attached at the rear side of the mirror reflective element, the spring-loaded electrical connectors contact and are biased into electrical contact with respective electrically conductive elements disposed at the rear side of the mirror reflective element, and the electrical connector is disposed at the back plate and configured to electrically connect to a connector of a wire harness of the mirror assembly or of the vehicle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/478,273, filed Apr. 4, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,466,563,which claims priority of U.S. provisional application Ser. No.62/319,012, filed Apr. 6, 2016, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/478,273is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/051,824, filed Feb. 24, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,878,669, whichclaims the filing benefits of U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No.62/198,881, filed Jul. 30, 2015, Ser. No. 62/169,705, filed Jun. 2,2015, and Ser. No. 62/120,039, filed Feb. 24, 2015, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field of rearview mirrorassemblies for vehicles and, more particularly, to exterior rearviewmirror assemblies having a variable reflectance reflective element andcircuitry for electrically connecting to the electrically conductivecoatings of the variable reflectance reflective element.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to provide a mirror assembly at an exterior portion of avehicle. The reflective element may be an electrochromic reflectiveelement having an electrochromic medium sandwiched between front andrear substrates coated with electrically conductive coatings, whereby,when powered, the transmissivity of the reflective element is varied.Typically, electrical connection to the conductive coatings is providedvia soldering to clips that clip onto an edge portion of the respectivesubstrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a rearview mirror assembly that providesspring-loaded electrical connectors that electrically connect betweenelectrically conductive connecting elements, such as wires or the like,and electrically conductive elements established at the rear of thereflective element (such as at the fourth or rear surface of anelectro-optic mirror reflective element). The electrically conductiveelements at the rear surface of the reflective element may compriseelectrically conductive traces that are electrically conductivelyconnected to electrically powered elements at the reflective element,such as the electrically conductive coatings at the second and thirdsurfaces of an electro-optic mirror reflective element. Thespring-loaded electrical connectors are urged or biased into electricalcontact with the electrically conductive elements as the back plate isattached at the rear of the reflective element and/or as a circuit boardor element is attached at the back plate. The electrically conductiveconnecting elements or wires or leads electrically connect thespring-loaded electrical connectors to an electrical connector (such asa plug or socket type connector) at the rear of the reflective elementor back plate attached at the reflective element, which is configured toelectrically connect to a corresponding socket or plug type connector ofa wire harness of the mirror assembly and/or vehicle.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an exterior rearview mirror assembly inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mirror reflective element assembly,having electrical connecting elements in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the electrical connectingelements of the mirror reflective element assembly of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the area shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the mirror reflective element, shownwith the back plate removed to show the electrical connecting elementsin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the electrical connectingelements of the mirror reflective element assembly of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another mirror reflective elementassembly, having electrical connecting elements in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the electrical connectingelements of the mirror reflective element assembly of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the area shown in FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, an exterior rearview mirror assembly 10 for a vehicle includesa casing 12 and a reflective element 14 positioned at a front portion ofthe casing 12 (FIG. 1). In the illustrated embodiment, mirror assembly10 is configured to be mounted at an exterior portion 11 a of a vehicle11 via a mounting structure, such as a pivotal or foldable structure orbreakaway structure or the like. The mirror assembly 10 may include ablind spot alert or icon 18 that is illuminated so as to be viewable ator through the reflective element 14 by a driver of the vehicle. Themirror reflective element comprises a variable reflectance mirrorreflective element that varies its reflectance responsive to electricalcurrent applied to conductive coatings or layers of the reflectiveelement. The reflective element 14 is attached at a back plate 30 (FIG.2) and includes a pair of spring-loaded or biased connectors 32 that aredisposed at and attached at the back plate 30 (such as at a perimeterregion of the back plate 30) and that are biased or urged intoengagement with and electrical contact with respective connectingelements 34 a, 34 b at the rear perimeter region of the reflectiveelement 14 to electrically connect to the respective electricallyconductive coatings of the reflective element, as discussed below. Theconnectors 32 are electrically connected to respective wires or leads 36from an electrical connector 38 (such as a plug or socket connector)that is attached at the back plate and configured to electricallyconnect to a corresponding connector of the mirror assembly and/orvehicle when the reflective element is disposed at the mirror casingand/or when the mirror assembly is mounted at the vehicle.

In the illustrated embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 2, the mirrorreflective element 14 comprises a laminate construction variablereflectance electro-optic (such as electrochromic) reflective elementassembly having a front substrate and a rear substrate with anelectro-optic medium (such as electrochromic medium) sandwichedtherebetween and bounded by a perimeter seal. The front substrate has afront or first surface (the surface that generally faces the driver of avehicle when the mirror assembly is normally mounted at the vehicle) anda rear or second surface opposite the front surface, and the rearsubstrate has a front or third surface and a rear or fourth surfaceopposite the front surface, with the electro-optic medium disposedbetween the second surface and the third surface and bounded by theperimeter seal of the reflective element (such as is known in theelectrochromic mirror art). The second surface has a transparentconductive coating established thereat (such as an indium tin oxide(ITO) layer, or a doped tin oxide layer or any other transparentelectrically semi-conductive layer or coating or the like (such asindium cerium oxide (ICO), indium tungsten oxide (IWO), or indium oxide(IO) layers or the like or a zinc oxide layer or coating, or a zincoxide coating or the like doped with aluminum or other metallicmaterials, such as silver or gold or the like, or other oxides dopedwith a suitable metallic material or the like, or such as disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 7,274,501, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety), while the third surface has a metallicreflector coating (or multiple layers or coatings) established thereat.The front or third surface of the rear substrate may include one or moretransparent semi-conductive layers (such as an ITO layer or the like),and one or more metallic electrically conductive layers (such as a layerof silver, aluminum, chromium or the like or an alloy thereof), and mayinclude multiple layers such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,274,501;7,184,190 and/or 7,255,451, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties. The mirror reflector may comprise anysuitable coatings or layers, such as a transflective coating or layer,such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,626,749; 7,274,501; 7,255,451;7,195,381; 7,184,190; 6,690,268; 5,140,455; 5,151,816; 6,178,034;6,154,306; 6,002,511; 5,567,360; 5,525,264; 5,610,756; 5,406,414;5,253,109; 5,076,673; 5,073,012; 5,115,346; 5,724,187; 5,668,663;5,910,854; 5,142,407 and/or 4,712,879, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties, disposed at the front surfaceof the rear substrate (commonly referred to as the third surface of thereflective element) and opposing the electro-optic medium, such as anelectrochromic medium disposed between the front and rear substrates andbounded by the perimeter seal (but optionally, the mirror reflectorcould be disposed at the rear surface of the rear substrate (commonlyreferred to as the fourth surface of the reflective element), whileremaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention).

The third surface defines the active EC area or surface of the rearsubstrate within the perimeter seal. The coated third surface may alsobe coated to define a tab-out region and wrap around coating or portion(such as by utilizing aspects of the mirror assemblies described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 7,274,501; 7,184,190 and/or 7,255,451, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties) that wraps aroundthe perimeter edge of the rear substrate and overcoats a portion of therear or fourth surface of the rear substrate. The wrap around portionthus provides electrical connection of the conductive layers to anelectrically conductive pad or bus-bar or element 34 a established ordisposed at the rear surface of the rear substrate for electricalconnection to a spring-loaded connector 32. Optionally, the conductivepad 34 a may comprise a conductive metal pad or element or tab that isadhered or otherwise established at the fourth surface and that iselectrically conductively connected to the third surface coating via aconductive epoxy or the like.

Likewise, an electrically conductive pad or bus-bar or element 34 b(which may be a coating established at the rear surface of the rearsubstrate or may be a metal pad or electrically conductive elementadhered or otherwise attached or bonded or established or disposed atthe rear surface of the rear substrate) may be established at anotherregion of the rear surface of the rear substrate for electricalconnection to another spring-loaded connector 32. The conductive pad 34b may be electrically connected to the electrically conductivetransparent coating at the rear or second surface of the frontsubstrate, such as via a conductive epoxy or the like established alonga portion of a perimeter region of the reflective element (and at aregion where the perimeter seal may electrically isolate the coating atthe rear surface of the rear substrate from the conductive epoxy). Thereflective elements and conductive pads may utilize aspects of thereflective elements described in U.S. Publication No. US-2016-0243987,which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The pads 34 a, 34 b may be disposed at or established at the fourth orrear surface of the reflective element or optionally may be disposed ator established at the rear surface of the front substrate at an overhangregion where the perimeter edge region of the front substrate extendsbeyond the perimeter edge of the rear substrate. In such an application,the pad 34 b may electrically connect to a portion of the transparentconductive coating at the second surface of the front substrate, whilethe pad 34 a may be disposed at the overhang region or at the secondsurface of the front substrate and electrically connect (such as via aconductive potting material or epoxy or the like) to the conductivecoating at the third surface. Optionally, the pad 34 a may be disposedat or established at the fourth or rear surface of the reflectiveelement (and may electrically connect to the third surface conductivecoating via a wrap-around conductive layer or the like), while the pad34 b may be disposed at or established at the second surface of thereflective element.

As can be seen with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the back plate 30attaches at the reflective element 14, with the electrically conductivepads 34 a, 34 b exposed at the rear surface of the reflective element.The back plate 30 includes an attachment portion 30 a for receiving orattaching a connector holder or cover 40 (FIGS. 3 and 4), which holdsthe connecting elements 32 thereat, such that the connecting elements 32are aligned or positioned at and biased towards connection to therespective conductive pads 34 a, 34 b at the fourth surface of themirror reflective element. The cover element 40 may hold the pins orconnecting elements 32 and the wires 36 may electrically connect to thepins 32 at the outer surface of the cover 40, as shown in FIGS. 3 and4). The cover element may snap attach to the attachment portion 30 a ofthe back plate to position and hold the pins 32 at the attachmentportion 30 a and at the respective conductive pads 34 a, 34 b, with thesprings biased toward an extended state so that the pins are biasedtoward and urged into contact with the respective conductive pads 34 a,34 b. The cover may be overmolded at the outer ends of the pins or thepins may be press-fit into the attachment portion to be retainedthereat.

As shown in FIG. 4, the back plate attachment portion 30 a is sealed atthe interface of the rear surface of the reflective element. And as canbe seen in FIGS. 5 and 6 (showing the pins and pads without theattachment portion and cover), the pins 32 are disposed at respectivepads 34 a, 34 b that are spaced apart and electrically isolated from oneanother. Thus, the pins and pads are electrically isolated from oneanother and sealed to limit or preclude water intrusion and to maintainelectrical isolation between the pins and pads and thus between theelectrically conductive coatings at the opposing surfaces of the frontand rear substrates.

Thus, when the electrical connecting elements 32 and the cover 40 aredisposed at the attachment portion 30 a of the back plate 30, thespring-loaded connecting elements 32 are moved into engagement with theconductive pads 34 a, 34 b to electrically connect the wires to theelectrically conductive coatings of the reflective element so as topower the electro-optic mirror reflective element or cell. Theconnecting elements 32 have a length dimension (when not compressed)that is larger than the distance between the cover element and theconductive pads and the connecting elements are biased or urged towardtheir extended state, such that the contacts or ends of the connectingelements 32 may protrude towards and into contact with the conductingpads when the cover is attached at the attachment portion of the backplate. As the cover is pressed into place at the attachment portion 30a, the spring-loaded connecting elements or pins 32 compress and themetallic or electrically conductive contact end is movable relative tothe connector body and contact end of the pin to compress the connector,and is biased towards its extended state via an internal spring (such asby utilizing aspects of the spring-loaded pins described in U.S.Publication No. US-2016-0243987, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety).

The wires 36 electrically connect between the pins 32 and the connector38, and the connector 38 may also connect to wires of another accessoryof the mirror reflective element assembly, such as to a heater pad or toa blind zone indicator or turn signal indicator or the like. The wires36 may be routed along the rear of the back plate 30 to the connector38, which may comprise a multi-pin connector (such as a plug or socketconnector) that is attached or retained at attaching elements or clipsor the like at the rear of the back plate 30. Thus, the connector andpins and cover and wires may be provided as a unit that is snap-attachedat the rear of the back plate, with the cover 40 snap-attaching to theattachment portion 30 a to electrically connect the pins to theconductive pads and the connector 38 snap-attaching at the clips at therear of the back plate 30.

Although shown and described as having the pins 32 protrude through thecover element, a cover element 40′ (FIGS. 7-9) may cover or enclose thepins within the attachment portion 30 a′ of the back plate 30′. As shownin FIG. 9, a circuit element or board 42′ (such as a printed circuitboard or PCB) may be disposed at the attachment portion 30 a′ with thepins or connecting elements 32′ disposed at and electrically connectedat conductive traces of the PCB 42′. In such an application, the wires36′ may be electrically connected to circuitry or traces of the PCB(such as via soldering or the like) to electrically connect with thepins 32′, with all of the electrical connections at the PCB 42′ beingencased within the cover 40′ and the attachment portion 30 a′.

The circuit element or PCB 44′ may be configured to snap attach at theback plate at or in the attachment portion 30 a′. When the PCB isattached at the back plate, the pins 32′ are urged into engagement withthe conductive pads at the rear surface of the rear substrate of thereflective element 14′ (similar to pins 32 discussed above), whereby thepins compress as they are sandwiched between the circuit board and thereflective element to establish electrical connection at the conductivepads at the rear of the reflective element, with the compressed springbiasing the contact ends towards the rear surface of the reflectiveelement to maintain the electrical connection. The pins and electricalconnections (including the wires 36′ and the connector 38′) mayotherwise be substantially similar to pins 32, discussed above, suchthat a detailed discussion of the reflective element and back plateassemblies need not be repeated herein.

Thus, the spring-loaded electrical connector of the present inventionmay be formed of a first, generally tubular, metallic stamping or formor body portion having a first cross-sectional dimension, and a second,generally tubular, metallic stamping or form or body portion having asecond cross-sectional dimension. The shape, form and cross-sectionaldimension of the second body portion is smaller than that of the firstbody portion, such that the second body portion is disposed within thefirst body portion and is slidable along and within the first bodyportion. A spring or other biasing element is disposed within at leastthe first body portion and enables the second body portion to movewithin and along the inner walls of the first body portion. The springelement urges the second body portion outward from the first bodyportion to extend the connector to its extended state (where the lengthof the connector is greater than the thickness of the back plate in andthrough which it is disposed), with the spring element compressing toallow the connector to compress as the cover element or PCB is attachedat the back plate and/or as the back plate is attached at the rearsurface of the reflective element.

By providing the pins as part of the cover element and/or as part of thePCB, the pins can be readily attached at the reflective element afterthe back plate has been attached at the rear of the rear substrate (orcan be readily attached at the back plate before the back plate isattached at the rear of the rear substrate. The pins are held in placeby the PCB or the cover element and thus the components can be readilysnapped or otherwise attached at the back plate to establish electricalconnection to the conductive pads or traces at the rear surface of thereflective element. The spring-loaded electrical connector of thepresent invention thus provides enhanced assembly and electricalconnection of mirror reflective element sub-assemblies.

Optionally, the PCB or cover element (with the spring-loaded electricalconnectors disposed thereat) may be part of an electrical connector thatis disposed at the rear of the back plate and includes the wires 36 andplastic connector element 38, whereby the electrical connector isreadily attached at the rear of the back plate before or after the backplate is attached at the reflective element. When the electricalconnector (including the attaching element or PCB or cover and thespring-loaded pins and the wires and connector portion) is attached atthe back plate, the spring-loaded pins are aligned with and urged orbiased toward electrical connection with the conductive pads or busbarsestablished at the rear surface of the reflective element. As shown inFIG. 2, the connector portion or element 38 may snap attach at the backplate 30 and the cover element 40 may also snap attach at the attachmentportion 30 a of the back plate 30 to provide electrical connection tothe conductive coatings of the reflective element when the connectorportion or element is further electrically connected to a connector endof a wire harness of the mirror assembly or vehicle. The connectorassembly may also include wires or leads or elements for electricallyconnecting to a heater pad or other accessory of the vehicle viaelectrical connection of the connector portion and the vehicle or mirrorwire harness. The connector assembly (comprising the cover element 40,the pins 32, the wires 36 and the connector element 38 of FIG. 2 orcomprising the PCB 42′, the pins 32′, the wires 36′ and the connectorelement 38′ of FIG. 7) thus may be provided as a separate component thatmay be snap attached at the back plate before or after the back plate isattached at the reflective element.

Thus, the present invention provides spring-loaded electrical connectorsthat establish electrical connection between circuitry or wires at a PCBor cover element and electrical contacts at the rear of the reflectiveelement during assembly of the PCB or cover element at the back plate.The present invention thus reduces or eliminates wiring connectors andsoldering of connectors at the reflective element. The spring force ofthe internal spring of the connector may be selected to be sufficient toestablish and maintain electrical connection during and after assembly.For example, the spring force may be at least about 1 N, preferably atleast about 1.5 N or thereabouts. The connector contact ends and bodycomprise a metallic or otherwise electrically conductive material andthe spring also comprises a metallic or otherwise electricallyconductive material such that electrical current can pass from onecontact end to the other when one of the ends is electrically powered(and when the other end is electrically connected to circuitry topower).

In the illustrated embodiment, two electrical connectors are provided toestablish electrical connection between EC control circuitry to theelectrically conductive coatings at the second and third surfaces of thereflective element. However, spring-loaded electrical connectors mayalso or otherwise provide electrical connection between circuitry andcontacts for other electrically powered or controlled elements, such assensors or heater pads (for exterior mirror applications) or the like,while remaining within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

For example, one or more spring-loaded electrical connectors may bedisposed in the back plate of an exterior rearview mirror assembly andconfigured to electrically connect with conductive pads or elements of aheater pad disposed at the rear of the mirror reflective element (andbetween a generally planar portion of the back plate and the mirrorreflective element). The heater pad spring-loaded electrical connectorselectrically connect to circuitry at the circuit board (such as when thecircuit board is attached or snap-attached at the back plate) andprovide power and/or control to the heater pad to control heating of themirror reflective element of the exterior rearview mirror assembly.Optionally, other spring-loaded electrical connectors may be provided atand through the back plate for electrically connecting circuitry of thecircuit board to other electrically powered elements or devices, such asone or more light sources or indicators disposed at the rear of themirror reflective element (and viewable through the reflective elementwhen powered). Thus, multiple spring-loaded electrical connectors of thepresent invention may be provided at and through the back plate toprovide the desired electrical power and control of one or moreelectrically powered devices or element.

The present invention thus provides spring-loaded electrical connectorsthat electrically connect between the PCB and conductive coatings orpads at the rear of an electro-optic reflective element, with theconnectors being snapped into the attachment plate or back plate withthe ends protruding from one or both sides of the back plate. The pinsor connectors are thus part of or retained at the back plate and arepositioned at the rear of the reflective element when the reflectiveelement is attached at or received in the back plate. The presentinvention thus provides enhanced assembly of the mirror reflectiveelement assembly, particularly for frameless type mirror reflectiveelements that may not have an overlap or offset region of the substratesfor a clip attachment. The conductive pads are established at the rearsurface of the rear substrate and the spring-loaded or biased pins orconnectors are disposed at the back plate and make connection betweenthe conductive pads and circuitry or traces at a PCB or to wires thatelectrically connect to a mirror connector. The pins are then held inplace by the attachment of the PCB or cover element and maintain theelectrical connection to the conductive coatings of the reflectiveelement. Such a configuration eases the assembly of the mirror andfacilitates automated assembly and connections.

Optionally, the spring-loaded electrical connectors may be insert moldedin attachment portion of the back plate (such as during an injectionmolding process that forms the plastic back plate), with the ends of theconnector protruding at either side of the back plate. Optionally, thespring-loaded connector may be disposed in a plastic (non-electricallyconductive) sleeve and may be longitudinally movable along a passagewayof the sleeve (so as to generally float in the passageway of thesleeve), with one or more flanges of the connector and the sleeveinteracting to limit longitudinal movement of the connector within andrelative to the sleeve. The sleeves (with the respective spring-loadedconnectors disposed therein) may be disposed in the mold for the backplate such that, when the back plate is molded (via an injection moldingprocess), the sleeves are integral to the back plate and held in placeby the molded back plate that is molded around the sleeves (which mayhave one or more exterior protrusions that are molded over by the backplate to further secure the sleeves relative to the molded back plate).

The present invention thus provides flexible or spring-biased orspring-loaded electrical connectors that electrically connect toconductive coatings or pads at the rear of an electro-optic reflectiveelement. The connectors may be part of a circuit board or part of theback plate or part of a cover element that attaches at the back plateand are positioned at the rear of the reflective element when thereflective element is attached at the back plate. Thus, when thereflective element is attached at the back plate, that end of theconnector may engage or may be pressed into engagement with the pads atthe fourth surface. The present invention thus provides enhancedassembly of the mirror reflective element assembly, particularly forframeless type mirror reflective elements that may not have an overlapor offset region of the substrates for a clip attachment. The connectorsare held in place by the attachment of the PCB or cover element andmaintain the electrical connection of the circuitry to the conductivecoatings of the reflective element. Such a configuration eases theassembly of the mirror and facilitates automated assembly andconnections.

The back plate may comprise any suitable construction. Optionally, forexample, a common or universal back plate, whereby the appropriate orselected socket element or pivot element (such as a socket element orsuch as a ball element or the like) is attached to the back plate toprovide the desired pivot joint for the particular mirror head in whichthe back plate is incorporated.

The mirror assembly may comprise any suitable construction, such as, forexample, a mirror assembly with the reflective element being nested inthe mirror casing and with a bezel portion that circumscribes aperimeter region of the front surface of the reflective element, or withthe mirror casing having a curved or beveled perimeter edge around thereflective element and with no overlap onto the front surface of thereflective element (such as by utilizing aspects of the mirrorassemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,255,451; 7,289,037; 7,360,932;8,049,640; 8,277,059 and/or 8,529,108, or such as a mirror assemblyhaving a rear substrate of an electro-optic or electrochromic reflectiveelement nested in the mirror casing, and with the front substrate havingcurved or beveled perimeter edges, or such as a mirror assembly having aprismatic reflective element that is disposed at an outer perimeter edgeof the mirror casing and with the prismatic substrate having curved orbeveled perimeter edges, such as described in U.S. Des. Pat. Nos.D633,423; D633,019; D638,761 and/or D647,017, and/or InternationalPublication Nos. WO 2010/124064; WO 2011/044312; WO 2012/051500; WO2013/071070 and/or WO 2013/126719, which are hereby incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties (and with electrochromic and prismaticmirrors of such construction are commercially available from theassignee of this application under the trade name INFINITY™ mirror).

As discussed above, the mirror assembly may comprise an electro-optic orelectrochromic mirror assembly that includes an electro-optic orelectrochromic reflective element. The perimeter edges of the reflectiveelement may be encased or encompassed by the perimeter element orportion of the bezel portion to conceal and contain and envelop theperimeter edges of the substrates and the perimeter seal disposedtherebetween. The electrochromic mirror element of the electrochromicmirror assembly may utilize the principles disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190;6,690,268; 5,140,455; 5,151,816; 6,178,034; 6,154,306; 6,002,544;5,567,360; 5,525,264; 5,610,756; 5,406,414; 5,253,109; 5,076,673;5,073,012; 5,117,346; 5,724,187; 5,668,663; 5,910,854; 5,142,407 and/or4,712,879, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Electro-optic mirror assemblies suitable for use with the presentinvention include liquid crystal mirrors having electrically variablereflectance, such as those described in U.S. Publication Nos.US-2016-0023606; US-2016-0009226; US-2015-0283945 and/orUS-2011-0273659, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

Optionally, it is envisioned that aspects of the mirror assemblies ofthe present invention may be suitable for a rearview mirror assemblythat comprises a non-electro-optic mirror assembly (such as a generallyplanar or optionally slightly curved mirror substrate) or anelectro-optic or electrochromic mirror assembly. Optionally, therearview mirror assembly may comprise a mirror assembly of the typesdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,420,756; 7,289,037; 7,274,501; 7,338,177;7,255,451; 7,249,860; 6,318,870; 6,598,980; 5,327,288; 4,948,242;4,826,289; 4,436,371 and/or 4,435,042, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. A variety of mirror accessoriesand constructions are known in the art, such as those disclosed in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,555,136; 5,582,383; 5,680,263; 5,984,482; 6,227,675;6,229,319 and/or 6,315,421 (which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties), that can benefit from the presentinvention.

Optionally, an exterior rearview mirror assembly of the presentinvention may include a spotter mirror element to provide a wide anglerearward field of view to the driver of the vehicle equipped with themirror assembly. The spotter mirror element may utilize aspects of themirrors described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 6,717,712;7,126,456; 6,315,419; 7,097,312; 6,522,451; 6,315,419; 5,080,492;5,050,977; 5,033,835; 8,021,005; 7,934,844; 7,887,204; 7,824,045 and/or7,748,856, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Optionally, the exterior mirror element of a mirror assembly may includeheater pad or film or element at a rear surface of the mirror reflectiveelement. The heater pad or element at the rear surface of the glasssubstrate may comprise a mirror defrost/demisting heater and may providean anti-fogging of de-fogging feature to the exterior mirror assembly,and may utilize aspects of the heater elements or pads described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 8,058,977; 7,400,435; 5,808,777; 5,610,756 and/or 5,446,576,and/or U.S. Publication Nos. US-2008-0011733 and/or US-2011-0286096,which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.The heater element may include electrical contacts that extend rearwardtherefrom and through an aperture of attaching portion of back plate forelectrical connection to a wire harness or connector of the mirrorassembly, or the back plate and/or heater pad may include suitableelectrical connectors and connections incorporated therein (such as byutilizing aspects of the mirror assembly described in U.S. Pat. No.7,400,435, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety) for electrically connecting the heater pad (or other suitableelectrical connectors may be utilized, such as electrical leads or wireharnesses or pigtails or other separate connectors or cables or thelike). Optionally, the heater pad may comprise a screen printed heaterpad. For example, the heater pad can be printed on the back of themirror reflective element (such as at the fourth or rear surface of therear substrate). Such coatings may be printed and then cured at around120 degrees C. or lower, making this process compatible with alreadyformed laminate type EC mirror elements, such as those described in U.S.Pat. No. 5,724,187, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety. This would make it compatible with EC mirrors.

Optionally, the mirror assembly may include a blind spot indicatorand/or a turn signal indicator, such as an indicator or indicators ofthe types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,198,409; 5,929,786 and/or5,786,772, and/or International Publication Nos. WO 2007/005942 and/orWO 2008/051910, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. The signal indicator or indication module may includeor utilize aspects of various light modules or systems or devices, suchas the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,581,859; 6,227,689;6,582,109; 5,371,659; 5,497,306; 5,669,699; 5,823,654; 6,176,602 and/or6,276,821, and/or International Publication No. WO 2006/124682, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Such an indicator or indicators may function as a lane change assist(LCA) indicator or indicators and/or a blind spot indicator orindicators. Such blind spot indicators are typically activated when anobject is detected (via a side object or blind spot detection system orthe like such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,038,577; 6,882,287;6,198,409; 5,929,786; 5,786,772 and/or 7,720,580, and/or InternationalPublication No. WO 2007/005942, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties) at the side and/or rear of the vehicle(at the blind spot) and when the turn signal is also activated, so as toprovide an alert to the driver of the host vehicle that there is anobject or vehicle in the lane next to the host vehicle at a time whenthe driver of the host vehicle intends to move over into the adjacentlane. Optionally, and alternately, the indicator or indicators mayfunction as a lane change assist indicator or indicators, where the hostvehicle may be detected to be moving into an adjacent lane without theturn signal being activated, and an object or vehicle may be detected atthe adjacent lane, whereby the LCA indicator or indicators may beactivated to provide an alert to the driver of the lane change to assistthe driver in avoiding unintentional lane changes and/or lane changeswhen a vehicle or object is detected in the adjacent lane.

The blind spot indicators thus may be operable to provide an indicationto the driver of the host vehicle that an object or other vehicle hasbeen detected in the lane or area adjacent to the side of the hostvehicle. The blind spot indicator may be operable in association with ablind spot detection system, which may include an imaging sensor orsensors, or an ultrasonic sensor or sensors, or a sonar sensor orsensors or the like. For example, the blind spot detection system mayutilize aspects of the blind spot detection and/or imaging systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,038,577; 6,882,287; 6,198,409; 5,929,786;5,786,772; 7,881,496 and/or 7,720,580, and/or of the reverse or backupaid systems, such as the rearwardly directed vehicle vision systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,760,962; 5,670,935; 6,201,642;6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,717,610 6,757,109 and/or 7,005,974, and/or ofthe automatic headlamp controls described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094;5,715,093 and/or 7,526,103, and/or of the rain sensors described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 6,250,148 and 6,341,523, and/or of other imaging systems, suchas the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392 and 6,313,454, whichmay utilize various imaging sensors or imaging array sensors or camerasor the like, such as a CMOS imaging array sensor, a CCD sensor or othersensors or the like, such as the types disclosed in commonly assigned,U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,760,962; 6,097,023 and/or 5,796,094, and/orInternational Publication No. WO 2004/047421, with all of the abovereferenced U.S. patents, patent applications and provisionalapplications and PCT applications being commonly assigned and beinghereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The reflective element of the rearview mirror assembly of vehicles mayinclude an auxiliary wide angle or spotter mirror portion, such as thetypes described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 6,717,712;7,126,456; 6,315,419; 7,097,312; 6,522,451; 6,315,419; 5,080,492;5,050,977 and/or 5,033,835, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and optionally may have an integrallyformed auxiliary mirror reflector, such as the types described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 8,736,940; 8,021,005; 7,934,844; 7,887,204; 7,824,045 and7,748,856, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. The auxiliary wide angle optic may be integrally formed suchas by physically removing, such as by grinding or ablation or the like,a portion of the second surface of the front substrate so as to createor establish a physical dish-shaped generally convex-shaped depressionor recess or crater at the second surface of the front substrate, andcoating the formed depression or recess with a reflector coating orelement or the like, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,021,005,incorporated above. The mirror reflective element includes a demarcatinglayer or band or element that is disposed or established around theperimeter of the reflective element and around the perimeter of thespotter mirror so as to demarcate the spotter mirror from the mainreflector portion to enhance the viewability and discernibility of thespotter mirror to the driver of the vehicle, such as by utilizingaspects of the hiding layers described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,736,940, whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Thedemarcating layer or contrasting coating or layer or material maycomprise any suitable material, and may provide a different color orreflectivity or may comprise a dark or opaque color to demarcate thespotter mirror and enhance discernibility of the spotter mirror from themain mirror, which may comprise a flat mirror, a convex mirror or a freeform mirror (such as utilizing aspects of the mirrors described in U.S.Pat. No. 8,917,437, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety).

The mirror assembly may comprise any suitable construction, such as, forexample, a mirror assembly with the reflective element being nested inthe mirror casing and with the mirror casing having a curved or beveledperimeter edge around the reflective element and with no overlap ontothe front surface of the reflective element (such as by utilizingaspects of the mirror assemblies described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,255,451;7,289,037; 7,360,932; 8,049,640; 8,277,059 and/or 8,529,108, or such asa mirror assembly having a rear substrate of an electro-optic orelectrochromic reflective element nested in the mirror casing, and withthe front substrate having curved or beveled perimeter edges, or such asa mirror assembly having a prismatic reflective element that is disposedat an outer perimeter edge of the mirror casing and with the prismaticsubstrate having curved or beveled perimeter edges, such as described inU.S. Des. Pat. Nos. D633,423; D633,019; D638,761 and/or D647,017, and/orInternational Publication Nos. WO 2010/124064, WO 2011/044312, WO2012/051500, WO 2013/071070 and/or WO 2013/126719, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties (and withelectrochromic and prismatic mirrors of such construction arecommercially available from the assignee of this application under thetrade name INFINITY™ mirror).

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments maybe carried out without departing from the principles of the presentinvention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patentlaw.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An exterior rearview mirror assemblyconfigured for mounting at an exterior portion of a vehicle, saidexterior rearview mirror assembly comprising: a mirror reflectiveelement having a first electrically conductive element and a secondelectrically conductive element disposed at a rear side thereof; a backplate attached at the rear side of said mirror reflective element, saidback plate having an attachment portion at a perimeter region thereof;an attaching element having first and second spring-loaded electricalconnectors disposed thereat; wherein said attaching element comprises acover element, and wherein said first and second spring-loadedelectrical connectors are disposed at said cover element and protrudetherefrom; wherein said attaching element comprises first and secondelectrical leads that electrically connect to said first and secondspring-loaded electrical connectors, respectively; wherein said firstand second electrical leads electrically connect to an electricalconnector; wherein said cover element of said attaching element attachesat said attachment portion of said back plate, and wherein, with saidcover element of said attaching element attached at said attachmentportion of said back plate, said first and second spring-loadedelectrical connectors are encased in a cavity defined at least in partby said cover element and said attachment portion; wherein, with saidcover element of said attaching element attached at said attachmentportion of said back plate, and with said back plate attached at therear side of said mirror reflective element, said first spring-loadedelectrical connector contacts and is biased into electrical contact withsaid first electrically conductive element disposed at the rear side ofsaid mirror reflective element and said second spring-loaded electricalconnector contacts and is biased into electrical contact with saidsecond electrically conductive element disposed at the rear side of saidmirror reflective element; wherein said electrical connector attaches atsaid back plate; and wherein, with said cover element of said attachingelement attached at said attachment portion of said back plate, and withsaid electrical connector attached at said back plate, said electricalconnector is disposed at said back plate and configured to electricallyconnect to a connector of a wire harness of said exterior rearviewmirror assembly or of the vehicle to electrically connect said first andsecond spring-loaded electrical connectors to an electrical powersource.
 2. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, whereinsaid first electrically conductive element and said second electricallyconductive element are part of a heater pad disposed at the rear side ofsaid mirror reflective element.
 3. The exterior rearview mirror assemblyof claim 1, wherein said electrical connector, with said cover elementof said attaching element attached at said attachment portion of saidback plate and with said electrical connector attached at said backplate, is electrically connected to a heater pad disposed at a side ofsaid back plate that faces said mirror reflective element when said backplate is attached at the rear side of said mirror reflective element. 4.The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said coverelement snap attaches to said attachment portion of said back plate. 5.The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein said attachingelement comprises a printed circuit board.
 6. The exterior rearviewmirror assembly of claim 5, wherein said cover element snap attaches tosaid attachment portion of said back plate to encase said printedcircuit board within the cavity defined at least in part by said coverelement and said attachment portion.
 7. The exterior rearview mirrorassembly of claim 1, wherein said first spring-loaded electricalconnector is compressible from an extended state to a compressed state,and wherein said first spring-loaded electrical connector has a lengthdimension that, when in the extended state, is greater than a distancebetween said cover element and said first electrically conductiveelement.
 8. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1, whereinsaid first spring-loaded electrical connector comprises a firstelectrically conductive body portion and a second electricallyconductive body portion movable relative to said first electricallyconductive body portion and in electrical conductivity therewith.
 9. Theexterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 8, wherein said firstelectrically conductive body portion comprises a contacting end that,when said cover element of said attaching element is attached at saidattachment portion of said back plate, contacts said first electricallyconductive element disposed at the rear side of said mirror reflectiveelement, and wherein said second electrically conductive body portion ofsaid first spring-loaded electrical connector comprises a connecting endthat electrically connects with said first electrical lead.
 10. Theexterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 8, wherein said firstspring-loaded electrical connector comprises a spring element disposedat least partially in said first and second electrically conductive bodyportions, and wherein said spring element urges said first electricallyconductive body portion outward from said second electrically conductivebody portion.
 11. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 10,wherein said spring element comprises an electrically conductive springelement.
 12. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 10, whereinsaid spring element of said first spring-loaded electrical connector hasa spring force of at least 1 Newton.
 13. The exterior rearview mirrorassembly of claim 10, wherein said second spring-loaded electricalconnector comprises a third electrically conductive body portion and afourth electrically conductive body portion movable relative to saidthird electrically conductive body portion and in electricalconductivity therewith, and wherein said second spring-loaded electricalconnector comprises a second spring element disposed at least partiallyin said third and fourth electrically conductive body portions, andwherein said second spring element urges said third electricallyconductive body portion outward from said fourth electrically conductivebody portion.
 14. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 1,wherein said mirror reflective element comprises an electro-opticreflective element having a front substrate and a rear substrate and anelectro-optic medium sandwiched therebetween, said front substratehaving a first surface and a second surface with a transparentelectrically conductive coating at the second surface and in contactwith said electro-optic medium, said rear substrate having a thirdsurface and a fourth surface with an electrically conductive coating atthe third surface and in contact with said electro-optic medium, andwherein the fourth surface of said rear substrate is at the rear side ofsaid mirror reflective element.
 15. The exterior rearview mirrorassembly of claim 14, wherein said first electrically conductive elementis in electrically conductive connection with said transparentelectrically conductive coating at the second surface of said frontsubstrate, and wherein said second electrically conductive element is inelectrically conductive connection with said electrically conductivecoating at the third surface of said rear substrate.
 16. The exteriorrearview mirror assembly of claim 15, wherein said first electricallyconductive element is in electrically conductive connection with saidtransparent electrically conductive coating via a first electricallyconductive trace established at the fourth surface of said rearsubstrate and an electrically conductive element that electricallyconnects said first electrically conductive trace to said transparentelectrically conductive coating at the second surface of said frontsubstrate, and wherein said second electrically conductive element is inelectrically conductive connection with said electrically conductivecoating via a second electrically conductive trace established at thefourth surface of said rear substrate and an electrically conductiveelement that electrically connects said second electrically conductivetrace to said electrically conductive coating at the third surface ofsaid rear substrate.
 17. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim14, wherein said electro-optic reflective element comprises anelectrochromic reflective element having an electrochromic mediumsandwiched between said front substrate and said rear substrate.
 18. Anexterior rearview mirror assembly configured for mounting at an exteriorportion of a vehicle, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:a mirror reflective element having a first electrically conductiveelement and a second electrically conductive element disposed at a rearside thereof; a back plate attached at the rear side of said mirrorreflective element, said back plate having an attachment portion at aperimeter region thereof; an attaching element having first and secondspring-loaded electrical connectors disposed thereat; wherein saidattaching element comprises a cover element, and wherein said first andsecond spring-loaded electrical connectors are disposed at said coverelement and protrude therefrom; wherein said attaching element comprisesfirst and second electrical leads that electrically connect to saidfirst and second spring-loaded electrical connectors, respectively;wherein said first and second electrical leads electrically connect toan electrical connector; wherein said cover element of said attachingelement attaches at said attachment portion of said back plate, andwherein, with said cover element of said attaching element attached atsaid attachment portion of said back plate, said first and secondspring-loaded electrical connectors are encased in a cavity defined atleast in part by said cover element and said attachment portion; whereineach of said first spring-loaded electrical connector and said secondspring-loaded electrical connector comprises a spring element that urgesthe respective one of said first spring-loaded electrical connector andsaid second spring-loaded electrical connector toward an extended state;wherein said spring element of said first spring-loaded electricalconnector has a spring force of at least 1 Newton; wherein, with saidcover element of said attaching element attached at said attachmentportion of said back plate, and with said back plate attached at therear side of said mirror reflective element, said first spring-loadedelectrical connector contacts and is biased into electrical contact withsaid first electrically conductive element disposed at the rear side ofsaid mirror reflective element and said second spring-loaded electricalconnector contacts and is biased into electrical contact with saidsecond electrically conductive element disposed at the rear side of saidmirror reflective element; and wherein, with said cover element of saidattaching element attached at said attachment portion of said backplate, said electrical connector is disposed at said back plate andconfigured to electrically connect to a connector of a wire harness ofsaid exterior rearview mirror assembly or of the vehicle to electricallyconnect said first and second spring-loaded electrical connectors to anelectrical power source.
 19. The exterior rearview mirror assembly ofclaim 18, wherein said electrical connector, with said cover element ofsaid attaching element attached at said attachment portion of said backplate, is electrically connected to a heater pad disposed at a side ofsaid back plate that faces said mirror reflective element when said backplate is attached at the rear side of said mirror reflective element.20. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 18, wherein saidcover element snap attaches to said attachment portion of said backplate.
 21. The exterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 18, whereinsaid first spring-loaded electrical connector is compressible from theextended state to a compressed state, and wherein said firstspring-loaded electrical connector has a length dimension that, when inthe extended state, is greater than a distance between said coverelement and said first electrically conductive element.
 22. The exteriorrearview mirror assembly of claim 18, wherein said first spring-loadedelectrical connector comprises a first electrically conductive bodyportion and a second electrically conductive body portion movablerelative to said first electrically conductive body portion and inelectrical conductivity therewith, and wherein said spring element isdisposed between said first and second electrically conductive bodyportions and urges said first electrically conductive body portionoutward from said second electrically conductive body portion.
 23. Theexterior rearview mirror assembly of claim 18, wherein said springelement comprises an electrically conductive spring element.
 24. Anexterior rearview mirror assembly configured for mounting at an exteriorportion of a vehicle, said exterior rearview mirror assembly comprising:a mirror reflective element having a first electrically conductiveelement and a second electrically conductive element disposed at a rearside thereof; a back plate attached at the rear side of said mirrorreflective element, said back plate having an attachment portion at aperimeter region thereof; an attaching element having first and secondspring-loaded electrical connectors disposed thereat; wherein saidattaching element comprises a cover element, and wherein said first andsecond spring-loaded electrical connectors are disposed at said coverelement and protrude therefrom; wherein said attaching element comprisesfirst and second electrical leads that electrically connect to saidfirst and second spring-loaded electrical connectors, respectively;wherein said first and second electrical leads electrically connect toan electrical connector; wherein said cover element of said attachingelement attaches at said attachment portion of said back plate, andwherein, with said cover element of said attaching element attached atsaid attachment portion of said back plate, said first and secondspring-loaded electrical connectors are encased in a cavity defined atleast in part by said cover element and said attachment portion; whereineach of said first and second spring-loaded electrical connectors iscompressible from an extended state to a compressed state, and whereineach of said first and second spring-loaded electrical connectors has alength dimension that, when in the extended state, is greater than adistance between said cover element and the respective one of said firstand second electrically conductive elements; wherein, with said coverelement of said attaching element attached at said attachment portion ofsaid back plate, and with said back plate attached at the rear side ofsaid mirror reflective element, said first spring-loaded electricalconnector contacts and is biased into electrical contact with said firstelectrically conductive element disposed at the rear side of said mirrorreflective element and said second spring-loaded electrical connectorcontacts and is biased into electrical contact with said secondelectrically conductive element disposed at the rear side of said mirrorreflective element; wherein, with said cover element of said attachingelement attached at said attachment portion of said back plate, saidelectrical connector is disposed at said back plate and configured toelectrically connect to a connector of a wire harness of said exteriorrearview mirror assembly or of the vehicle to electrically connect saidfirst and second spring-loaded electrical connectors to an electricalpower source; and wherein said electrical connector, with said coverelement of said attaching element attached at said attachment portion ofsaid back plate, is electrically connected to a heater pad disposed at aside of said back plate that faces the rear side of said mirrorreflective element when said back plate is attached at the rear side ofsaid mirror reflective element.
 25. The exterior rearview mirrorassembly of claim 24, wherein said first electrically conductive elementand said second electrically conductive element are part of the heaterpad disposed at the side of said back plate that faces the rear side ofsaid mirror reflective element.
 26. The exterior rearview mirrorassembly of claim 24, wherein said attaching element comprises a printedcircuit board that is encased within the cavity defined at least in partby said cover element and said attachment portion.
 27. The exteriorrearview mirror assembly of claim 26, wherein said cover element snapattaches to said attachment portion of said back plate to encase saidprinted circuit board within the cavity defined at least in part by saidcover element and said attachment portion.